Areas of the Music Industry

Areas of the Music Industry 

In the music industry there are 4 main areas, Those areas are;

• Record Company
• Artist Management 
• Music Publishing 
• Live Performance 

Record Companies

Record Company - A company that makes and sells musical recordings

Definition from (http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=record%20company)

Record Companies sell records. These could be CD’s, Vinyl’s and recently Digital. Often, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks; coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing, promotion, and enforcement of copyright for sound recordings and music videos; conducts talent scouting and development of new artists and maintains contracts with recording artists and their managers.

Within a record company there are many deals that they can offer to an artist those are;

• 360 deal
• Major label deal
• Production deal
• Distribution deal

360 deal:

The 360 deal, With this deal, the label gives the artists a advance and takes a certain percentage of everything so that they can make their money back and profit.  

As CD sales are going down and labels will never make their advance back they have created these deals in which they can create a partnership with the artist meaning that they share profits when it comes to touring, merchandising meaning that the label invests in the artist as a brand and tries to sell the product rather than focusing on the sales of physical CD's. There is no percentage of pay as this deal hasn't been around for a long time.

This deal is okay for an artist as they get the big advance and they are bound to make the advance back with the label sharing profits from every sector meaning that the artist makes alot of money as well as the label but this type of deal is still behind the distribution deal

Major Label Deal:

This is the most common deal. The record label pays for everything. Recording, pressing, distribution, promotion, videos. This deal comes with an advance that will be given to the artist to spend however they want, so that when your record is out you can look flashy, like they have made it in the industry but once you accept the advance your record sales must match that advance or you will be in debt with the label and can be taken court. As a debut artist, you will get around 15% of your music sales, and even after you pay back your advance the label still owns the song and you still receive minimal money.

This is the most common deal as the record label will make the most money and at the end of the day that's what they want to do. This is probably the worst deal as they have complete control of what you release and how you do it. 

Production Deal:

Instead of being signed directly to a label, some artists sign to producers that record projects on them.  A major label then gives those producers an agreement to develop artists under their umbrella and turn over complete projects for release. The artist would decide the money cost from the producer. 

A famous example of a Production deal El-P & Killer Mike - Run The Jewels

Distribution Deals: 

Distribution deals with major labels are given to artists who have created a buzz and already have a loyal fan base and will be willing to buy product from this artist. In this deal the record label try everything they can to try feed the music from their client around as much as possible. The artist is responsible for all other costs in this deal. This means that the artist must pay for clothes, video costs, production costs and tour costs.

The distributing label almost never pays an advance and takes 20% of the profit made from record sales

This deal is the best deal for an artist with a big following as they can get most of the profit and can in return make better music as they have more money rather than being in debt.

Overall the record company is not vital to releasing a album it is just like a thing that is there to platform you into the public eye. A deal can help the artist get the attention that is needed to make them successful, but they can get into the public eye without a deal like so many artists are doing now. They are  staying indie and making major money without having to give some to labels and in return make better music 

Artist management

Artist managers fulfill different roles for different artists. Some managers have a list of clients as this is a way of maintaining a better income but it also means that the manager will be working 24/7. A small artist may find their manager or the manager may find them. The roles of the manager depend on the success of the artist if the artist is small then the manager is probably going to be the artist's personal assistant and also tour manager, promoter etc. The manager takes on the role of a mother really as they are there to make sure the artist has everything they need and to make sure they are happy with the production, hotel stay, tour dates etc. As the artist develops the managers roles may grow or get less as the artist may hire different people for specific jobs.
The artist manager gets 20% of what the artist gets so this is why a manager of small artists would have many so that they can live of a comfortable wage.

The artist manager is needed as it makes the artist more professional and then the artist will be taken seriously for interviews, giving demos out and bookings for shows etc. If you have a good artist manager then you will be able to market yourself in a way that will make you successful so i would have to say that having a artist manager is more important than having a record deal.

Music Publishing
A music publisher is in charge of royalties for an artist and makes sure that when music is played commercially that the artist receives funds for it. A Music publisher also makes sure that the artist gets air time and is played as much as possible. This way the market for the artist can expand and therefore the record label will get more money as they will have appealed to more people by expanding their target audience. The money is normally split 70/30 with 30% going to the publisher.

Having a music publisher is vital if you want to make money of songs that are being played on the radio otherwise its just like a free promotion. Having a music publisher can help maintain a healthy wage if you are getting enough air time also if your music is copyrighted to a publishing company someone may stumble along it and use it for a big production and then you'll make more money

Live Performance
Live performances are what make an artist and help gain exposure and without this its hard to sell any records i think this is the most important aspect of the music industry as long with of course the main production of a CD. A Live performance can help give an artist the attention they need to sell their merchandise if you perform live and it is successful chances are you will sell alot more product because of that one gig. Live performances like festivals are also a good way of gaining new following as new people will be exposed to your music.
Touring is a way for artists to either gain exposure or to perform several songs from a recent project e.g. Album, mixtape. You'd only tour if you had the material avaliable and were able to perform songs.

Doing Live Performances are what make an artists gain exposure as people will spread. If you have a good live performance you can gain fans and at the same time get money for the show to invest in new projects, Also having a good live performance is vital to having a successful career as this is why most artists make their money along with merchandise.


Bibliography
http://www.indiehiphop.net/4-types-of-record-deals/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_publisher_(popular_music)#The_music_publisher.27s_role
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talent_manager